In keeping with today's theme, Indiana Pacers GM David Morway is in the group of us who would prefer trades and roster moves remain between teams and players before deals are actually consummated. The Pacers were involved in discussions regarding a three-team trade with the Memphis Grizzlies and New Orleans Hornets, but that deal fell through at the last minute, as so many trades do. What was frustrating for Morway and the Pacers was not that the deal fell through so much as the fact that it went public before it was complete.

"When we're at the trade deadline we're in multiple trade discussions with many teams, many front all the way up to the deadline," Morway told 1070 The Fan in Indianapolis. "Most of the discussions you're in 95%, 98%, or whatever never come to fruition. You know, you talk. You discuss different players. At the end of the day one of the teams just can't reach an agreement. This was a three-team trade. Three-team trades are extremely difficult to put together. This one started to come together only on the day of the trade deadline because of some discussions with Memphis where Memphis decided to get involved. As a result of that we didn't have a lot of time to put the trade together and at the end of the day in discussions with New Orleans, New Orleans decided not to do the deal. I was a little surprised by some of the discussion because this is not atypical for us. I guess the reason this became a big deal because in Memphis they discussed the trade publicly as something that was done when it was never done."

The subject of this particular trade for the Pacers was Grizzlies guard OJ Mayo, whom the Grizzlies had been shopping for some time. The Pacers were in the market for another proven scorer to complement the young group that's already in place, and they viewed Mayo as such a player.

"I can't talk about other teams' players, but I will say this: we are very targeted and very specific as to the guys we are looking at right now to add to this basketball team. We have a very good, young core of players. They're starting to play very well. They're starting to grow up. We're excited about them, but at the same time (President) Larry (Bird) and I have taken a very clear and close look at this team and we known exactly what we are trying to add. One of the things we feel like we want to add to this basketball team is another scorer; another guy who can create points on his own and we've targeted several guys we think can help do that and we're going to continue to pursue them. We never felt we needed to get anything done during this period of time. Our mindset, and you know we've never changed this since the day we took over, is we have a very specific plan as to how we're going to develop and grow this team. One of the key elements to that is the cap flexibility we created and we're going to be very patient, very disciplined, on how we use that cap flexibility. It's taken a long time and there's been a lot of pain to get there, to have that flexibility, and we're going to be careful about how we use it, making sure we add the right pieces to this team moving forward."

One aspect of the failed trade that rubbed Morway the wrong way was the way it was characterized in the media, which read it as the Pacers messing up a deal that was all but complete.

"You know, that was characterized the wrong way," says Morway. "That was puzzling to me, as well. We were in discussions with several teams besides Memphis. Memphis and Indiana had agreed to a trade at the time. We needed to add a third piece to the puzzle, a third team to that trade, to make it work and we were in various discussions with several teams to see which team would be the best fit into that deal. At the end of the day we were in conversations as it came out with New Orleans and when we - for a short period of time came to terms with New Orleans on a deal it was after the 3 p.m. deadline, so there was never any deal. Now New Orleans pulled out of it 3 or 4 minutes into it because they determined they didn't want to do it. The deadline really was irrelevant because we had to reach an agreement with New Orleans and we never quite did."

At the end of the day, the failed trade didn't upset the Pacers nearly as much as the rumors that were spread about the deal.

"I'm not pissed; I'm aggravated because things get spread and rumors start. People talk about things that just aren't accurate and they're are not true. In a way I'll tell you from a standpoint of not only Larry [Bird] and myself, but the people that work with us, that work so hard everyday it's insulting for there to be this thought out there that our franchise bungles thing up and you know doesn't look at a clock and can't hit a deadline. It's just ridiculous, so I'm just you know I'm not pissed, but it's aggravating to have to hear those kinds of things, particularly after our group put in the kind of effort and time to try to aggressively pursue some deals."

Listen to Indiana Pacers GM David Morway on 1070 The Fan in Indianapolis by linking here!

BillS

03-03-2011, 05:55 PM

Looks like a report of the interview from the other day.

90'sNBARocked

03-03-2011, 05:56 PM

yes it is , was that posted already?

PacersPride

03-03-2011, 06:02 PM

One of the things we feel like we want to add to this basketball team is another scorer; another guy who can create points on his own and we've targeted several guys we think can help do that and we're going to continue to pursue them.

we certainly gained more insight into how the pacers are looking to improve next season. scoring at both sg/pf. Pacers were reportedly interested in Landry.

West and AI could be targets, add a young player with potential on a rookie salary contract makes more sense, ie. mayo level player.

keeping hope alive we land gordon. Gordon and George would be excellent players at sg/sf.

BillS

03-03-2011, 06:02 PM

yes it is , was that posted already?

Not this article, just a running commentary on the appearance while it was happening. That's why I thought it sounded familiar.

Kegboy

03-03-2011, 09:13 PM

Boy, I sure am glad he's not pissed.

El Pacero

03-03-2011, 09:27 PM

Yeah this was a pretty good interview. It's the 6th podcast on the 2nd page - 2-25-11 interview.

http://www.1070thefan.com/jmv/podcast.aspx

IndyProdigy

03-04-2011, 03:49 AM

over the mayo deal but i liked this line above from the article.

we certainly gained more insight into how the pacers are looking to improve next season. scoring at both sg/pf. Pacers were reportedly interested in Landry.

West and AI could be targets, add a young player with potential on a rookie salary contract makes more sense, ie. mayo level player.

keeping hope alive we land gordon. Gordon and George would be excellent players at sg/sf.

When was the rumor we were going after Gordon? we need to throw the kitchen sink at al jefferson, shoulda offered granger for him back when we had the chance jefferson is on a tear and a force to be reckoned with

Tom White

03-04-2011, 09:05 AM

Wait a minute.

Morway says it was N. O. who pulled out of the deal. Didn't Bird say (I remember from another thread) that it was Memphis who backed out of the deal?

90'sNBARocked

03-04-2011, 09:35 AM

Wait a minute.

Morway says it was N. O. who pulled out of the deal. Didn't Bird say (I remember from another thread) that it was Memphis who backed out of the deal?

UPDATE: Larry Bird on Failed Trade: Deal Pulled Off the Table with Two Minutes to Go
by Jared Wade on February 26, 2011 at 5:45 pm · 1 comment

Larry Bird is now talking about what happened when his attempted trade with the Memphis Grizzlies for OJ Mayo fell apart just minutes before the trade deadline came and went last Thursday. UPDATE: And it is a different story from the one that Griz owner Michael Heisley was telling the other day. I’m not a logic major, but it seems as though someone here is either misinformed or has pants that are on fire. Apparently I was misreading this based on the Star’s “Bird claims Grizzlies pulled deal off table late” headline. Reporter Jeff Rabjohns has informed me that it was New Orleans that pulled the deal off the table at the last minute. Sorry for the confusion. Here’s the link to the more clearly presented Indy Star piece.

Jeff Rabjohns reported the following for the Indianapolis Star.

“I was on the phone with Memphis. We had a deal with five minutes to go. At two minutes, they (New Orleans) pulled the deal, and it didn’t happen,” Bird said, referring to the 3 p.m. deadline set by the NBA.

Larry elaborated further about the opportunity to get Mayo and “not give up a ton” — a characterization that must make Josh McRoberts, Brandon Rush and Solomon Jones (the three guys who would have been shipped out) feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

“We felt we had the opportunity to get a player who would help us and not give up a ton, even though I like Josh and Brandon,” Bird said. “It’s unfortunate it had to be a three-team deal because when you get more teams in it, anything that happen.

“It’s tough on me because we worked three days to get a deal done, and they (New Orleans) pull it off the table with two minutes to go. That’s pretty hard to take.”

Now the Pacers look ahead to the summer. Barring the new Collective Bargaining Agreement capping all salaries at “one peanut butter sandwich with a team option for jelly,” the Pacers should have plenty of money to target some free agents. We’ll see how that goes, but I’ve increasingly become enamored with the idea of Zach Randolph playing power forward for Indiana.

The only responses from Brandon and Josh on the matter were typical, “say the right thing” fodder, although Rush again dropped a similar line to the one he gave me last night regarding his thoughts on what the front office has in store for his future in Indiana.

The only real surprise here is that neither Brandon or Josh used the phrase “it is what it is.”

Strummer

03-04-2011, 10:07 AM

Wait a minute.

Morway says it was N. O. who pulled out of the deal. Didn't Bird say (I remember from another thread) that it was Memphis who backed out of the deal?

There were two different versions of Jeff Rabjohns article online at the same time. The headline of the first said that Memphis backed out. The second version clarified that when Bird said "they", he meant NO.

Justin Tyme

03-04-2011, 10:21 AM

On Hoopshype this morning, the NBA fined "3" teams for talking about a trade that had never been finalized. My guess is it's the Pacers, Hornets, and Griz. Maybe that's another reason Morway is upset.

CableKC

03-04-2011, 11:49 AM

On Hoopshype this morning, the NBA fined "3" teams for talking about a trade that had never been finalized. My guess is it's the Pacers, Hornets, and Griz. Maybe that's another reason Morway is upset.
WTF? Teams get fined for that? I can understand not "officially" talking about the Players involved.....but Teams can't even say that they were talking about a trade "that never was" to the public?

Geez....did Emperor Palpatine fine the beloved Knicks and Nets when they were heavily rumored to be pursuing Melo-Drama?

Tom White

03-04-2011, 11:54 AM

[QUOTE=CableKC;1184435]WTF? Teams get fined for that? I can understand not "officially" talking about the Players involved.....but Teams can't even say that they were talking about a trade "that never was" to the public?

Geez....did Emperor Palpatine fine the beloved Knicks and Nets when they were heavily rumored to be pursuing Melo-Drama?[/QUOT

I think the teams were announcing the trades as done and official before the trades were approved by the league.

imawhat

03-04-2011, 11:59 AM

Wait a second, wait a second.......

Maybe this has been discussed already and I missed it, but:

"At the end of the day we were in conversations as it came out with New Orleans and when we - for a short period of time came to terms with New Orleans on a deal it was after the 3 p.m. deadline, so there was never any deal. Now New Orleans pulled out of it 3 or 4 minutes into it because they determined they didn't want to do it."

Here's the missing piece. The two bolded parts imply one of two things:

1) New Orleans pulled out of a deal 3 or 4 minutes into it, then reconsidered but it was too late,

or

2) New Orleans agreed after the deadline, we then called it in (meaning we were confident about receiving or had already received an extension) and then New Orleans backed out on the phone.

#2 makes more sense in general, but #1 is in line with Bird and Morway's comments and makes sense with the facts. 2:55 we're on the line with the NBA, 2:58 NO pulls out while we're on hold (Bird: we had a deal with two minutes to go, Morway: NO pulled out 3 or 4 minutes into it). NO then reconsiders, we then call the NBA again but it's too late, call logged at 3:01 (per Mike Wells twitter, Morway: short period of time came to terms on a deal after the deadline).

Either way, this could be the missing piece. Or someone doesn't have their facts straight.

imawhat

03-04-2011, 12:24 PM

Or.....

Pacers talk about trade with Memphis most of the day. At 2:58 Memphis agrees (Bird: "We had a deal with two minutes to go...We meaning IN and MEM), Pacers scramble to find third team (Bird or MEM owner: "MEM agreed very late but there was still time"), Pacers get NO to agree after deadline, we call NBA at 3:01 (per Mike Wells), NO then backs out after three or four minutes.

Taterhead

03-04-2011, 12:28 PM

Wait a minute.

Morway says it was N. O. who pulled out of the deal. Didn't Bird say (I remember from another thread) that it was Memphis who backed out of the deal?

He might have, but it obviously wasn't them because the Grizzlies are who announced the deal was done, prematurely.

Wait a second, wait a second.......

Maybe this has been discussed already and I missed it, but:

"At the end of the day we were in conversations as it came out with New Orleans and when we - for a short period of time came to terms with New Orleans on a deal it was after the 3 p.m. deadline, so there was never any deal. Now New Orleans pulled out of it 3 or 4 minutes into it because they determined they didn't want to do it."

Here's the missing piece. The two bolded parts imply one of two things:

1) New Orleans pulled out of a deal 3 or 4 minutes into it, then reconsidered but it was too late,

or

2) New Orleans agreed after the deadline, we then called it in (meaning we were confident about receiving or had already received an extension) and then New Orleans backed out on the phone.

#2 makes more sense in general, but #1 is in line with Bird and Morway's comments and makes sense with the facts. 2:55 we're on the line with the NBA, 2:58 NO pulls out while we're on hold (Bird: we had a deal with two minutes to go, Morway: NO pulled out 3 or 4 minutes into it). NO then reconsiders, we then call the NBA again but it's too late, call logged at 3:01 (per Mike Wells twitter, Morway: short period of time came to terms on a deal after the deadline).

Either way, this could be the missing piece. Or someone doesn't have their facts straight.

I think we had received an extension from the league. Once NO backed out the extension was over and the deal was dead.

I think all teams had agreed to a deal and had an extension to be over the deadline, which is why Memphis was confident enough to announce the deal, but 3-4 minutes into the trade call, NO backed out.

Sparhawk

03-04-2011, 02:19 PM

"You know, that was characterized the wrong way," says Morway. "That was puzzling to me, as well. We were in discussions with several teams besides Memphis. Memphis and Indiana had agreed to a trade at the time. We needed to add a third piece to the puzzle, a third team to that trade, to make it work and we were in various discussions with several teams to see which team would be the best fit into that deal. At the end of the day we were in conversations as it came out with New Orleans and when we - for a short period of time came to terms with New Orleans on a deal it was after the 3 p.m. deadline, so there was never any deal. Now New Orleans pulled out of it 3 or 4 minutes into it because they determined they didn't want to do it. The deadline really was irrelevant because we had to reach an agreement with New Orleans and we never quite did."

The bolded part is the correct way to use the term "irrelevant". If only JOB read this site.

Speed

03-04-2011, 02:50 PM

Its still unclear to me, if they HAD to have a 3rd team to make the finances even work.

I think that is what Morway said when I listened to him, but I'm still not sure.